DENVER – The Southwestern University Pirates men's basketball team scorched the nets in Denver, routing the Johnson & Wales University Wildcats 90-66 to wrap up its conference-opening road trip 2-0.
Brandon Alexander led a balanced Pirates' attack with 14 points on 4-for-10 shooting, pulling down five rebounds. Reserves Kyle Poerschke and Joel Martinez also reached double figures, with Poerschke shooting 3-for-6 for 11 points and Martinez hitting 3-for-5 for 10.
Southwestern shot 56.9 percent from the field, including 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) from deep, overwhelming Johnson & Wales with an eight-minute, 24-5 run after JWU took an 11-10 lead off a Jaerron Hunter jump shot.
Zac Black anchored the Pirates inside, scoring nine first-half points on 4-for-5 shooting with three rebounds and two assists, while the rest of the team bombarded JWU with a barrage of 3-pointers as Southwestern hit a higher percentage from deep (7-for-11, 63.6 percent) than from the field overall (19-for-31, 61.3 percent) to take a 52-33 lead into the break.
With a commanding lead, the Pirates were able to turn to the bench for most of the second half, outscoring JWU 49-27 in bench points.
The Pirate defense limited JWU to just 35.5 percent shooting with Hunter scoring 19 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Brandon Romero had 14 points on nine shots and Andray Thomas Jr. needed 14 shots to score 11 points.
With the victory, the Pirates extend their win streak to three in a row, improving to 6-3 on the season. Southwestern will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 29, hosting Schreiner University at 5:30 p.m.